The Nation Newspaper

Category: Southeast report

  • Respite from kidnappers, cultists in Imo

    Respite from kidnappers, cultists in Imo

    Months of violence and tension from criminal groups are coming to an end in Imo State as the police and Department of State Security (DSS) tackle the criminals. OKODILI NDIDI reports

    Security agents have stepped up to the felons and the people can now sleep peacefully. For a while, such peaceful rest was a luxury that residents of Owerri, the Imo State capital, and environs could not afford. Kidnappers and cultists were about, perpetrating all manner of violence. Rival cultists often clashed in broad daylight, leaving blood and corpses in places that residents could easily see. Kidnapping was also on the increase. The criminals struck fear in the people.

    The activities of these dare-devil criminals are more rampant in the oil-producing communities of Ohaji Egbema and Oguta, where they torture, maim and kill innocent citizens daily.

    Most painfully, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mr. Frampton Akpanika, was killed in his apartment.

    It is unclear if Akpanika’s murder stirred the security forces into action. The crackdown on cultism and kidnapping has begun to yield result. Over 25 suspected cultists have been arrested in a forest, where they were allegedly holding what was referred to as their national conference, during which new members were reportedly recruited. It was also gathered that the group was fine-tuning their next attack.

    The cultists were reportedly nabbed by police in an ambush operation, according to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Austin Evbakavbokun, who was represented by the Command’s spokesperson, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, a Deputy Superintendent of Police.

    Enwerem while parading the bandits at the Command’s headquarters disclosed that the Police acted on a tip-off by concerned residents, who saw them gathering in the forest.

    He said, “This group of cultists belongs to the Black Axe Fraternity and they were arrested while holding their national conference in the forest. We have promised that we are going to fight criminality to a standstill in Imo State.

    “They are the ones terrorising the state capital and other parts of the state. The command has resolved to fish them out from wherever they may be hiding and to make the state uncomfortable for all criminal elements because since the birds have learnt to fly without perching, we have learnt to shoot without missing”.

    Some of the cultists who were mainly between the ages of 19 and 26, said they were in the forest to settle a looming crisis between the two leading cult groups in the state to avoid bloodshed, while others denied that they were just passing through the forest when they were apprehended by the Police.

     

    •The suspected kidnappers
    •The suspected kidnappers

    Also, a six-man kidnap syndicate was also busted by the Department of State Security (DSS).

    The gang which includes five males and a female, were arrested after they had kidnapped Nnawike Chinaka in Nkwerre Local Government Area of the state.

    Parading the suspects before the State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, the state Director of the DSS, Mr. Francis Ejiofor disclosed that the Command has set up a special Taskforce to curb the rising cases of kidnapping in the State.

    He said that the operation is beginning to yield result with the arrest of the syndicate and the rescue of the victim.

    The Governor commended the recent efforts of security operatives in the state for ensuring that kidnapping and other related crimes are brought to the barest minimum.

    He assured that the state government will continue to provide adequate support and partnership to all security operatives to make the state peaceful and crime free.

    The state Police Command had also arrested two suspected kidnappers, Ebuka Ibeh and Kelechi Nwogu, from Orsu Local Government Area of the state, who allegedly specialised in the abduction and selling of under-age children.

    The duo before their arrest had succeeded in abducting two minors, aged 4 and 3 years from their home before luck ran out of them.

    One of the suspects, during interrogation, confessed that the two children, Chigozie and Chukwuka Ezeribe from the same parents, were kidnapped along the road while their mother was out to fetch them food.

    He said, “When we monitored and found out that their mother was out we grabbed the children and drove off in a motorbike and took them to where we wanted to sell them to a waiting buyer”.

    The rescued children have been reunited with their family according to the state police boss.

  • Bedridden for two years

    Bedridden for two years

     •Cruel fate of Rivers’ father of 11 

    Two years ago, a fatal motor accident on Igwuruta Road in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State confined Mr. Dike Angus, a church security officer, to bed.  Since then, he has been bedridden and traumatised.

    Dike, who is now seeking assistance to get back on his feet and to start catering for his family, believes that if government takes him to a bone specialist he will walk again.

    Narrating his journey to helplessness, Dike, a father of 11 children, said the driver was on high speed when the vehicle had a head-on collision with a trailer. He said every other passenger, including the driver, died. He survived but was unconscious for several days.

    He said the car was badly damaged after the collision with the trailer.

    the Taxi
    the Taxi

    His words: “It was a small car with five passengers. We boarded it from Igwuruta to Omegwa in on November 19, 2012. Everybody that boarded the vehicle died except me. Though, somehow I was also declared dead because at that point, according to those who saw me, there was nothing in me that looked like I was alive. The driver was on a high speed and he collided with heavy duty truck; that is the only thing I could remember. The rest of the story is what I heard from people when I regained myself.

    “When I woke up from the hospital bed, they told me that nobody survived. With the level of injury I was not surprised. I saw enough reasons to thank God for my life. I have 11 children; some of them are no longer going to school. All we are thinking now is how to eat. Even when I am not in this condition, things were very difficult for me. I was working as a church security guard before the accident happened. All I need now is help from anybody to enable me walk again so that I can go out to struggle for the survival of my family.”

    He said in spite of his condition, he knew he could make it again, adding that he has been bed-ridden for so long, making it difficult for him to get N300, 000 which the bone doctor said would be enough to make him walk.

    “I want to walk again, and I know with the advice of my bone doctor, I will. I am begging, the governor of Rivers State, Nyesome Wike, the Chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Hon. Bestman Amadi, to assist me financially. I need N300, 000 to get out of the bed. There are things my bone doctor wants to buy because I owe him he could not do anything than to wait till I bring more money. To be frank, he has helped me; he made me to start moving my legs even to stand with it. But there are more to do if there is money.

    “Since this accident happened, most of my friends and relatives have not been coming close to me. I have spent all the money I had, there is nothing left again. The present condition of my family is a very serious problem to me.  I am the breadwinner of my family; my wife is not doing anything for now. The society we are living is not encouraging. Politicians and privilege individuals are moving millions  daily but somebody somewhere is dying because of N1,000. What a wonderful world. But I know even if the whole world abandons me, God will surely see me through.”

     

  • Abia clears drains

    Abia clears drains

    Abia State has started clearing the clogged drains of Aba, its commercial hub. The city is blighted by a network of bad roads and is perennial flooded, sometimes leading to the loss of lives and properties.

    Silted drainage is often blamed for the flooding, which is most disturbing in the rainy season.

    The perennial flooding according to environmental experts can be attributed to the blocked drainages and canals with domestic and industrial waste which prevents water from flowing freely through the channels into the Aba River.

    However, Governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu during his inaugural speech and other events had promised that he was going to tackle the case of flooding menace in Aba, warning all landlords and owners of various illegal structures on water ways to evacuate them or have them pulled down when the government would move in its bulldozers to action.

    And in fulfillment of his promises to ameliorate the incidence of flooding in Aba as the rain sets in, the state government has since last week Friday began de-silting of drainages within the commercial heartbeat of Abia State.

    The streets and areas so far covered by the exercise include Park road, St. Michael’s Road, hospital road, Umule, Ukaegbu, Umuojima among other places where the exercise is going on simultaneously.

    While many residents and shop owners have lauded the state government’s step in addressing the case of flooding, others have equally expressed their reservations over the exercise.

    According to some residents that spoke to our reporter who went round to monitor the scooping of gutters, it was a good step by the governor towards restoring the original master plan of Aba.

    “It is a positive step by the Abia State government. The evacuation of the debris from the gutters will help to cushion the effect of flooding in this town especially, now that we are in the rainy season and I hope that they will be able to finish the exercise before the rain sets in properly”, a resident who simply gave his name as Uchenna said.

    But Christian Ogor disagrees with Uchenna as he recalled, “In 2013 or thereabout, Governor Theodore Orji (immediate past governor) embarked on such process. If you will remember, they concentrated much on Azikiwe road where they scooped out a lot of debris from the gutters along that road and before you know it, majority of them went back to the gutters.

    “Look at how what they have scooped out is littering the road and making our roads look dirtier. It is not that I am against what the government is doing. Since Friday or Saturday that they scooped out all these things from the gutters, they were yet to come and use their truck to remove them. You know how many times that it has rained in Aba and majority of what they were able to scoop out are still going back into the drainages. It is also obstructing movements along the road and causing unnecessary traffic jam.

    “I don’t think that rainy season is a time to do this and do it better. So, while I am against people dumping their industrial and domestic wastes into the gutters, I equally want to advice the government to ensure that something urgent is done to ensure that whatever that is removed from the gutters will be promptly evacuated if they know that they won’t end up wasting their monies and efforts as well”, he advised.

    However, an official of the Abia State Government appealed to Aba residents to be patient with the state government and promised that they were on top of the matter, stressing that they would soon evacuate the debris littering the roads.

  • Philanthropist gives all to the poor

    Philanthropist gives all to the poor

    Something memorable is happening in Enugu. A man who just turned 60 gave all he had to the needy. He did so by formalising a foundation dedicated to the needs of the poor.

    The man, Mr. Paul Erinne, an engineer of repute, on that day marked both the inauguration of the Paul Erinne Foundation and his 60th birthday by bequeathing “all I have to humanity.”

    He announced this at the birthday party held at the Oakland Centre Enugu. That announcement drew a prolonged applause from the audience which included the deputy governor of Anambra state who represented Governor Willie Obiano and  the former governor of Anambra state, Senator Chris Ngige.

    Erinne told the audience that he was taking the decision on his own volition and not to impress anybody. “Nobody asked me to do it, and I am doing it not to impress anybody. It is purely for the concern I have for the poor and the needy in the society.”

    Prior to the birthday bash, a thanks giving service was held in his honour at the Cathedral of Good Shepherd , Independence Layout Enugu. The service was officiated by the Anglican bishop of Enugu, Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma. And Erinne prayed: “My birthday. Another year of my life has come to a close, and a new day begins for me, Lord, eternal caretaker of my life and lover of my soul in Christ Jesus.You have been good to me through the years. You have given me health and strength, friends and relatives, enjoyment and pleasure, and above all, your gospel with its many promises of peace and forgiveness. My grateful heart praises you.

    “Give me the grace to rededicate myself to you again for the service of the poor and the needy on this commemoration of my birthday and greater willingness to serve you faithfully and continually.”

    In his homily, Archbishop Chukwuma poured encomiums on Erinne for his concern for the poor and the needy. Chukwuma said: “Charity to the poor is another way of thanksgiving. Paul is known for his penchant in remembering the poor. He follows the biblical injunction that asks owners of lands to sell them and use the proceeds to help the have-nots.

    “He has been sharing rice and cows since 1998 to widows and the indigent. His philanthropy has grown from the widows to the needy. He believes in hard work. God has endowed him today. He will continue to be rich and flowing out.

    Chukwuma congratulated Erinne for attaining the age of 60 of which he contributed major part of his life for service to humanity. “The age of 60 is just a ripe age. We have 120 years to live. Seventy is the retirement age. It is time for one to enjoy what he labored for all his life. I prefer to be invited to birthdays and not burials. I detest invitations to burials because I am not an undertaker.

    At the service were Priests and Reverend sisters of the Catholic Church who were led by a Monsignor , a representative of the Catholic bishop of Enugu, Bishop Callistus Onaga. A surprising aspect of the Paul Erinne Foundation is that Erinne, thoufg an Anglican gave the foundation to the catholic church to run. This was informed by his belief that the catholic priests and reverend sisters were known to be good missionaries with penchant for caring of the poor and the needy. But the Board of Trustees is made up of nine distinguished Nigerians drawn from other denominations as well as different aspects of life.

    Among them include Dr. T. C. Osanakpo (SAN), Dr. Samuel Erinne based in the United States, Mrs. Ijeoma Egbo, a female evangelist; Emeka Egbo, an industrialist; Rev. Fr. Peter Agbonome, head of Holy Ghost Congregation, eastern province and Rev. Mother Lonnie Martha Akaraga, mother superior general of handsmaids of Holy Christ Jesus.

    Others include, Rev. Fr. Jude Odiaka, head of Jesuit Congregation in Nigeria and the founder of the foundation, Paul Erinne, a Lagos based industrialist.

    The mission and vision of the foundation is to become the bastion of hope, the beacon of love and unfettered service to the less privileged and humanity at large. It is also to nuture and nourish a lasting platform that will perpetually seek  to the need of the down trodden without let or hindrance anywhere in the world.

    Paul Erinne got the calling to serve humanity some 30years ago aboard a flight from Kenya to Zambia when he was an undergraduate. He consummated a covenant with God while the aircraft was going through a terrific turbulence.

    Enveloped in fear  as the aircraft was quivering and tearing through the storm, a voice said to him “,fear not my son, I shall preserve your life ,you shall not die on this trip, you shall not only get to your destination but you must fulfill your destiny in life but don’t forget to honour me when the time comes”.

    In the horrific situation, the young man vowed in his heart that if God does His own part of this bargain that he will surely keep his.

    When his age mates were still grappling with finding a career path, success embraced the young man and wealth came his way too. He was imbued with all the good things of life at a very young age.

    Sometimes we make vows which when it is time to fulfil, it becomes burdensome to us.

    Not so with Erinne.

    He began in a small scale with scholarship grants for indigent students, paying hospital bills for the sick, donating a hostel block to a university and donating a building to a motherless babies home.

    Considering the magnitude of God’s blessings unto him as he clocks the diamond age of three scores, he insists he must birth a befitting philanthropic brand that would outlive him to perpetually serve the less privileged and humanity at large. That is how the Paul Erinne Foundation (PEF) came to be. And on June 12 precisely, Erinne bequeathed all he had labored for, to the service of humanity.

  • Abia oil communities’ youths list demands

    Abia oil communities’ youths list demands

    They are richly blessed with crude oil, but what do residents of Ukwa East and Ukwa West Local Government Areas in Abia State get for their endowments? Pretty little, say their angry youths.

    No different from abundantly endowed Niger Delta communities, infrastructure in Ukwa West and Ukwa East is woeful. The roads are impassable, there is no potable water, and where any facility exists, it is in a very bad state.

    Irked by this abysmal profile, youths from the two oil-rich councils under their umbrella body, Joint Youth Council of Ukwa, a pressure group, at the end of a mid-year review, listed their demands.

    The resolutions were taken after a special congress held in Umuebulungwu-Asa, Ukwa West LGA. The youths want both the state and federal government to address in their areas.

    In a communiqué signed by several of its leaders, the group called on the Abia State government to revive all moribund industrial, tourist and agricultural sites, in addition to resuscitation Ogwe Golden Chicken Farm, Abia Palm (Nig) Ltd, Akwete Weaving Industry and the Azumini Blue River in Ukwa.

    They also appealed to the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to extend the ongoing road reconstruction exercise in Aba to Ukwa and to pay attention to Obohia-Ohuru-Aba Road, Ohanku-Aba and Ogwe-Obokwe-Uratta Junction roads.

    The group which noted that their communities have been in darkness for a year, pleaded with the Okezie-led government to change the Ukwa power phase to the nearby Afam Power Station since, according to them, the Ala-Oji Power Station was already overloaded.

    The youths also condemned the relocation of “prestigious Asa High School to a mere primary school block and the premises turned to a military barracks”.

    They called for the immediate vacation of the military or the relocation of Asa High School to a more befitting site, even as they hope that the famous and premier Ndoki Grammar School, Obohia should be upgraded to a campus of any of the state-owned tertiary institutions.

    Among other things that the youths clamoured for was the appointment of qualified indigenous Ukwa people into principal offices in both the executive and legislative arms of government. They stressed that they would no longer tolerate the recycling of people with no proven records of community service into government positions in the state.

    The Ukwa youth council equally expressed the hope that the new state government will, in its first 100 days in office, start work on the proposed Obeaku-Ndoki Sea Port. They also called for the relocation of the Abia State Oil Producing Area development Commission’s (ASOPADEC) office to Ukwa for effective and efficient service delivery and the increase in the commission’s annual budget.

    Part of their communiqué read, “The council pleads with the dynamic governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu to give utmost priority to youth empowerment for Ukwa especially in the political appointments, entrepreneurship and business patronage.

    “The council heartily congratulates Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, the Governor of Abia State on his recent flag-off of mass road reconstruction in Aba.

    ”The council frowns at the recent political appointments so far made in the state as no Ukwa son or daughter was considered for the principal offices in the Executive or Legislative arms of the government. Such appointments should be given to qualified Ukwa sons and daughters with proven records of community service and as community appeal, as we will not tolerate the recycling of people who have no such track records”.

  • Gloom for Anambra inmates

    Gloom for Anambra inmates

    The challenges in the prisons are well documented: cells accommodate more than double the capacity for inmates who, in some cases, have to take turns sleeping. At the Awka prisons in the Anambra State capital, no fewer than 50 inmates struggle for space in one cell; in fact, the facility built in 1904 to house 238 persons, accommodates 480. Things are hardly any better at two other prisons in the state, one in Onitsha, the commercial hub of the state, the other at Ekwulobia.

    The sad thing is that conditions are worsening for people behind bars in the state, as The Nation found out during a visit of a philanthropist and politician, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, to the prison to mark his 59th birthday with the inmates.

    The state Chief Judge, Justice Peter Nnanna Umeadi helped to thin down the number of prisoners in Awka, reducing it from 480 to 437 in a clemency. Some inmates have converted to Christianity, a number even becoming pastors, and some enrolling in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

    Still, the horrors persist. The borehole sunk in 2009 by the state government has seized to function and whenever it worked, the water had better not be ingested.

    Also, the clinic built by the government does not have a single drug, not even pain killers.

    The inmates take a sachet of packaged water three times a day in the prison because they have no water, while they contribute money raised by their relatives to purchase diesel for the plant.

    The Nation gathered that the last time the government gave a vehicle to the prison was in 2000.

    However, despite the suffering and pains being gone through by the inmates, the Nation gathered that they have not been able to react because of the way prison staff handle them.

    Reacting on the numerous problems in the prison, the deputy controller of prisons (DCP), Matthew Kalu, confirmed the problems, adding that Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), has been another major problem in the place.

    He said, “The inmates here are suffering and we need a rescue mission in this place; nothing is working, the government has abandoned this place.”

    “We pray that the present administration will look in the direction of the prisons, government is not doing anything apart from feeding the inmates and you can imagine the type of food; [only God] is sustaining them.”

    Also, Assistant Controller of Prisons (ACP) in Aguata prisons, Paschal Ibegbuleme corroborated what Kalu said, adding that prisons have been neglected and abandoned.

    Ekwy Okafor, the prisons welfare officer, heaped praises on Ezeemo for coming to celebrate his birthday with people who are neglected and abandoned.

    He said Ezeemo had shown the kind of real love Jesus Christ showed that made him to suffer for the people.

    Okafor, further said that what Ezeemo did was rare because he alleged that the big people in the society including top politicians always go to big hotels to celebrate their birthdays, adding that the philanthropist has shown example of a good leader.

    The prison staff described Ezeemo as a hero, a giant, a humanitarian, a philanthropist and a listener to the voiceless.

    Speaking with The Nation, Ezeemo said what he did was to satisfy his mind, his heart, his soul and his body.

    A Paul Haris fellow of the Rotary Club International, Ezeemo lamented that all the basic things that make life meaningful were all lacking in the prisons.

    Ezeemo said, “In advanced countries, being a prisoner was to have rest outside your home, but in Nigeria, it is a different ball game, but we must not continue to profess negativity, but we should be positive in what we do”

    “I have not come for a sermon in the prison but to celebrate with our fellow human beings, who are being neglected because of what some of them do not know about,” Ezeemo said.

    However, while speaking with the inmates before he cut his birthday cake with them, Ezeemo, told them not to see their condition as the worst in life, adding that they should not lose hope.

    “You are here for reformatory purpose, but you should not see yourself as failures, the reason for some of you being here could be as a result of mistaken identity,” Ezeemo said.

    The provost general in the prison who described himself as Mohammadu Buhari in the prison, claimed that some of the inmates had spent 12 years there.

    He said that over 200 inmates in the Awka prison would not have ended up there if they had someone to stand for them.

  • Employ youths in agric

    The Project Director of Youth for Agriculture Nigeria (YFA), Obinna Ibiam has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that his administration keys into a programme involving youth in agriculture.

    He also said that state governors and minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will equally do the same.

    Yet, that is not all. Even federal legislators and their state counterparts are not left out in the appeal to see that youths do not idle away but be engaged in tilling the ground in the various ways.

    The result is manifold, according to the YFA leader. One, it will ensure food security apart from keeping youths out of vice.

    Ibiam said that there is need for the Federal Government, state governors and legislators to ensure that they promote agricultural programmes in their various areas for youth empowerment.

    Speaking with The Nation in Umuahia, Ibiam said that the presidency, state governors and legislators should key into the programme through YFA for effective operation.

    Ibiam said that the lawmakers at various levels should ensure that they enact laws that will enhance youth employment in agricultural programmes if the issue of food for all is to be realised.

    He maintained that if the youths of the country are empowered to have exportable agricultural produce in all the agricultural commodity value chain, “The value of our currency will increase, there will be food and employment”.

    The project director YFA said that if the youth employment in agriculture programme is allowed to succeed, “It will help to reduce youth restiveness, hunger, unemployment and poverty”.

    Ibiam said that the YFA programme is the only alternative avenue to crude oil revenue problem the world is facing now, stressing that the only way for Nigeria to survive is to go back to agriculture.

    He said that the YFA has a nine year strategic plan with the federal government to catalyze youth employment in agriculture programme to the grass root to create 37 million jobs in all the 774 council areas of the country.

     

  • Land tears families apart

    Two families, Okoronwiro and Nwankwo-Eje, in Umuhu, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, have fallen out over the ownership of a parcel of land and the economic trees on it.

    In 2003 the Okoronwiro family put up an advertorial in a newspaper claiming joint ownership of the land as well as the allied items on it.

    But in a counter claim, the Nwa-nkwo-Eje family led by Geoffrey E. Nwankwo debunked the co-ownership posture, adding that such claim should be retracted.

    He warned that any member of the public who had anything to do with the land, economic trees and other properties in Umuhu, Umunebo village without consulting the Nwankwo-Eje Family would have themselves to blame.

    He maintained that any such transaction shall be null and void and of no consequence.

    Nwankwo noted that the family historically, were the occupants and direct descendants of Umuhua-gorom clan or dynasty, adding that no other in Umunebo village of Uvumegbenadiji Ufuma.

    Furthermore, he claimed that the Okoronwiro descendants were incorporated in Umuhu dynasty by the Nwankwo-Eje, adding that the terms reached in the years had been abandoned.

    He said that the said article was void in associating Nwankwo-Eje family with any pre-occupation and indiscriminate land deal or sale of economic trees that were jointly owned by both families.

    This, according to the family was inciting, libelous and scandalous, in bad faith, mischievous as well as laced with ulterior motive and falsification of history.

    They said that all rights and privileges pertaining to the Umuhu dynasty and its property in Oha Agbada, Iyi Ogwugwu, Ugwu-ajirija, Nkwa, Ugwuagadinwanyi, Oguro, Osum, Anaocha, Isig-wuikpa, Ohe Uno, Ohe agu and Oriehi rest and belonged to the Nwankwo-Eje Family.

  • Varsity’s N10m for cooperative women

    The Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike (MOUAU) Micro-Finance Bank has lifted two women groups with the sum N10 million credit as part of its social responsibility.

    The two women cooperative societies groups known as Nneji and Selisam Multi-purpose Cooperative Societies were among the beneficiaries of N5 million cheque each group got from microfinance bank.

    The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof Hilary Edeoga who represented managing director of the bank, Bashir Ogungbagbe said that the cooperative societies satisfied the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for such facility.

    Speaking at the handover ceremony, Edeoga said that CBN mandated that they put forth 30% of the amount which he said the societies met and advised the beneficiaries to use the loan for the purpose it was meant.

    Edeoga said that the cooperative societies under the umbrella of their national body the Quintessential Women Cooperative Society, met the required conditions for such credit facility, hence the money they were given.

    The VC told them to use the loan as seed for greater harvest even as it marked the beginning of more access to such facilities and assured them of the readiness of the bank to assist them whenever they had challenge in the management of the loan.

    In her address to the beneficiaries, the Vice President of the Quintessential Women Association, Rev Mrs Janet Eyo said the association was borne out of the vision to empower women, since the hands of Nigerian women have remained weak for too long.

    Eyo said that Abia was one of the 15 states, after Akwa Ibom and Kwara states that got government approval through CBN having fulfilled the conditions and announced that the money would revolve for 10 years thereby allowing more women societies to benefit.

    She said the association was fulfilled especially after several banks had disappointed them and urged the beneficiaries not to squander the opportunity but keep to the terms of repayment in order to benefit more.

    She encouraged more women cooperative societies to identify with the association in order to lift their families out of poverty, stressing that the era when women sit at home for their husbands to provide for them is over.

    The representative of the Niger Delta Development Commission [NDDC] one of the partners to the project, Mr Dimgba Eruba, said the commission was elated at the prospect of partnering with the association.

    Eruba said that the scheme is a success having already proved them reliable partners which, stressing that it was the reason the association was provided with a rice processing machine donated to the association through NDDC.

    He said the Commission would also partner with the women in training programmes and urged them to invite NDDC whenever they were ready for such programmes.

  • Innoson sues bank

    Innoson sues bank

    Innoson Motors Nigeria Limited is locked in a legal battle with the Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB) gulping billions of naira.

    The motor manufacturing company has instituted a N30 billion suit against GTB, following alleged damages the company suffered as a result of an ex parte order of Mareva Injunction, which GTB applied and obtained, freezing Innoson’s accounts in all the banks in Nigeria.

    However, on June 10, Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in a considered ruling set aside the ex parte order of September 1, 2014 and the writ of summons as well.

    The running legal battle between Innoson and GTB started when Innoson challenged the action of the Nigeria Customs Service for auctioning its goods.

    In a Garnishee Order Absolute, the court had ordered GTB to pay Innoson N2,048,737,443.67 from the Customs account.

    Rather than comply with the Garnishee Order Absolute of the court, GTB on February 6, 2015 appealed the judgment, but the Court of Appeal in Appeal no. CA/1/258/2011 affirmed the judgment of the Federal High Court and ordered GTB to pay the judgment debt of N2,048,737,443.67 to Innoson.

    GTB, instead, appealed to the Supreme Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision.

    In another suit, Innoson sued GTB for imposing excess and unlawful charges on the company’s account with the bank amounting to N559 million.

    The trial court gave a N4.7 billion judgment in favour of Innoson.

    GTB appealed the judgment of the Awka High Court, but the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, upheld the judgment and ordered GTB to pay the judgment debt, which stood at over N5.7 billion, into an interest-yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Court of Appeal.

    GTB has appealed to the Supreme Court.

    The lingering legal tussle will soon be decided by the apex court.